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Psalm 80

Listen to Psalm 80
1 Attend, O Shepherd of Israel, who guidest Joseph like a flock; thou who sittest upon the cherubs, manifest thyself;
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasse, stir up thy power, and come to deliver us.
3 Turn us, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be delivered.
4 O Lord God of hosts, how long art thou angry with the prayer of thy servant?
5 Thou wilt feed us with bread of tears; and wilt cause us to drink tears by measure.
6 Thou has made us a strife to our neighbours; and our enemies have mocked at us.
7 Turn us, O Lord God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. Pause.
8 Thou hast transplanted a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9 Thou madest a way before it, and didst cause its roots to strike, and the land was filled with it.
10 Its shadow covered the mountains, and its shoots equalled the goodly cedars.
11 It sent forth its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the river.
12 Wherefore hast thou broken down its hedge, while all that pass by the way pluck it?
13 The boar out of the wood has laid it waste, and the wild beast has devoured it.
14 O God of hosts, turn, we pray thee: look on us from heaven, and behold and visit this vine;
15 and restore that which thy right hand has planted: and look on the son of man whom thou didst strengthen for thyself.
16 It is burnt with fire and dug up: they shall perish at the rebuke of thy presence.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, and upon the son of man whom thou didst strengthen for thyself.
18 So will we not depart from thee: thou shalt quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 Turn us, O Lord God of hosts, and make thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Psalm 80 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Of the word "shoshannim," See Gill on "Ps 45:1," and of "shushaneduth," See Gill on "Ps 60:1" which seems to be the same with this here, and is thought by some to be the name of a musical instrument now unknown, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; though these two words are not to be read together as one, for there is a dividing accent on "shoshannim," and which may be rendered "concerning the lilies" {a}; and so may denote the subject matter of the psalm, or respect the people of God, comparable to lilies for their beauty, purity, and holiness in Christ, Song of Solomon 6:2, and to lilies among thorns, Song of Solomon 2:2, being in great afflictions and persecutions, as appears from Psalm 80:5, the word "eduth" is to be read not along with "shoshannim," but with what follows, thus, "Eduth unto Asaph a psalm"; some render the word "eduth" an ornament or glory, as R. Marinus in Aben Ezra; and take the sense to be, that the psalm was a glorious one, and desirable to Asaph; but it rather signifies a testimony, and is by the Targum interpreted of the testimony of the law; but it is rather to be understood of the testimony of the Gospel, which is the testimony of Christ, and bears witness of him; and there is a testimony of him in this psalm, Psalm 80:17, and there seem to be in it many breathings after his coming and appearance in the flesh. Some take this psalm to be of the same argument with the foregoing, and think it refers to the destruction of the Jews, the two tribes, by the Chaldeans; so Theodoret; but there is no mention made of the temple, nor of Jerusalem, as in the preceding psalm; and besides, why should Manasseh and Ephraim be mentioned? wherefore others are of opinion that it has regard to the captivity of the ten tribes by Salmaneser; but then it may be asked, why is Benjamin taken notice of, which had no concern in the affliction? this has led others to conclude that it respects some time of affliction before either of these captivities, or between them both; and it may be applied to any affliction of the people of God in any age or period of time; and no doubt was written by Asaph, or by David, and put into his hands before the distress was, under a spirit of prophecy. Kimchi interprets it of the present captivity of the Jews, and Jarchi of their three captivities.

{a} Mynvv la "super liliis," Tigurine version, Cocceius; "pro liliis," Musculus.
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The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.

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